1 year since PPL

H

HouTxPilot82

Pre-takeoff checklist
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Nov 6, 2014
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HouTxPilot82
Just wanted to post this out there as encouragement or whatever for many of the PPLs in training. It's been exactly one year since I passed my checkride. I was somewhere around 75 hours at that time, and in the year since I've logged roughly about 25 more. In the last year, I've had a chance to:

1. Take my friends and family members on their first ever GA flights: including my mother, my wife, my sister and her 2 kids, cousin, another niece, my best friend, and 3 other friends.
2. Take a weekend trip down the coast in the little rental skycatcher (I fly out of KSGR).
3. Take a day trip with friends to a water park.
4. Do a scenic flight in the Caribbean (Curacao)
5. Do a scenic flight in Maui (out to Molokai)
6. Fly over the San Jac monument and across i-10 (Houston) with views of Downtown

Weather, flying funds, and rental aircraft availability have all contributed to limit my hours but it has been extremely fun and rewarding. All the work I put into the training was more than worth it to share unique experiences with friends and family. I still have additional training planned for the coming year, most likely High Performance/Complex for now. Since I don't get out there 3 times a week like during ppl training, if I go a few weeks w/o any flights, I take a CFI up w/ me for an hour and run through the PTS maneuvers to get feedback.

Hoping for good weather/availability in the very near future to do a couple of lunch flights to Conroe/Brenham with other friends who have been wanting to go, and a couple of long cross country flights I've been wanting to do forever to visit family. For those currently in training - keep at it! It's so worth it!
 
Thanks for this post, it's definitely inspiring to me. I like the fact that you get a mini flight review to increase safety when your hours are limited over time. Great example to set.
 
I love your "States I've flown in" map. TX and HI.

Was the water park by any chance Schlitterbahn in either New B or Galveston? :D

Good times!
 
petrolero said:
I love your "States I've flown in" map. TX and HI.

Was the water park by any chance Schlitterbahn in either New B or Galveston? :D

Good times!
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Yeah I sorta get a kick outta that map myself :) One of my planned XC flights in the near future is Lake Charles so I'll get to color in another one soon. Also hoping for a trip to California soon and will try to do the 'Bay Tour' with an outfit while I'm there.

The water park was indeed Schlitterbahn - we planned to fly to New Braunfels, but although it was all clear @ KSGR, sadly the weather to the west of us was all IFR. We gave it about 3 hours to clear up but it didn't look promising so we flew to KGLS in Galveston instead.
 
HouTxPilot82 said:
The water park was indeed Schlitterbahn - we planned to fly to New Braunfels, but although it was all clear @ KSGR, sadly the weather to the west of us was all IFR. We gave it about 3 hours to clear up but it didn't look promising so we flew to KGLS in Galveston instead.
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And it's a very short walk from the terminal to the gate!
 
You have the bug , next step is to buy an airplane,or join a club with a couple of airplanes. Congrats.
 
Awesome, glad to see another excited pilot. :)
Do you fly pups for PnP? Are you considering instrument rating? What are your future plans?
 
BigBadLou said:
Awesome, glad to see another excited pilot. :)
Do you fly pups for PnP? Are you considering instrument rating? What are your future plans?
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Eventually Instrument rating. More near term hoping to do Complex/HP. For now, I'd just like to do some longer trips.
 
My 1 year is in a few days... at this point I feel like I've been flying for a decade or so... I've packed a ton of things into this year though.
 
HouTxPilot82 said:
Yeah I sorta get a kick outta that map myself :) One of my planned XC flights in the near future is Lake Charles so I'll get to color in another one soon. Also hoping for a trip to California soon and will try to do the 'Bay Tour' with an outfit while I'm there.

The water park was indeed Schlitterbahn - we planned to fly to New Braunfels, but although it was all clear @ KSGR, sadly the weather to the west of us was all IFR. We gave it about 3 hours to clear up but it didn't look promising so we flew to KGLS in Galveston instead.
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Grand Casino Coushatta! :D

OK they tried to church up the name but I still call it that.

(I spent a lot of years in Texas)
 
Nice... keep gaining hours and experience. Now save and buy your own. Only thing better than renting and flying is owning and flying!!
 
You might try flying fifty hours or more in a taildragger, a champ, a t craft, etc. Get to feel comfortable in it and be able to land in crosswinds, do some spins with a good instructor and some unusual attitude recovery. It's really great training and will prove a huge benefit in anything you choose to fly.
 
If you're just looking for a breakfast or lunch run, fly over to Lone Star Exec in Conroe and hit Black Walnut. Nice FBO and tasty breakfast. Flew down from Denton a few weeks ago and took my granddaughter there for her 13th birthday
 
JCranford said:
If you're just looking for a breakfast or lunch run, fly over to Lone Star Exec in Conroe and hit Black Walnut. Nice FBO and tasty breakfast. Flew down from Denton a few weeks ago and took my granddaughter there for her 13th birthday
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I had that exact flight planned on a Saturday 2 weeks ago and booked a plane for a 3+ hour block so we'd have enough time to relax and enjoy our lunch. Sadly the plane had to go in for maintenance and they cancelled me at the last minute and could not offer me another one for the same amount of time due to other reservations (only 2 hour blocks were available). So I had to defer that flight to another day.
 
Jimmy cooper said:
You might try flying fifty hours or more in a taildragger, a champ, a t craft, etc. Get to feel comfortable in it and be able to land in crosswinds, do some spins with a good instructor and some unusual attitude recovery. It's really great training and will prove a huge benefit in anything you choose to fly.
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I'd love to do some spin training and some tailwheel training - it's on the list!
 
HouTxPilot82 said:
I had that exact flight planned on a Saturday 2 weeks ago and booked a plane for a 3+ hour block so we'd have enough time to relax and enjoy our lunch. Sadly the plane had to go in for maintenance and they cancelled me at the last minute and could not offer me another one for the same amount of time due to other reservations (only 2 hour blocks were available). So I had to defer that flight to another day.
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That sucks but don't worry, the trip will happen one day. Also tey Brenham (11R) for lunch, they have decent food in a diner right on the airport property. And don't forget you can always fly down to mustang Beach (KRAS) and give Jay & Mary some business in their aviation themed (and very clean) hotel.

Let us know when you're going to 11R and maybe we can do a fly-out from Austin for a burger. :)
 
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